"Roll Up and Spend Your Last Dime". The Merry-go-round of Children`s Extra-curricular Activities in Modern Society.

"Step up and play" begins the famous hit song 'Penny Arcade'. And so it
was for thousands of Australian families, as their eldest child began school
this year, and the associated endless merry-go-round of extra-curricular
activities also began. But how many of those families realise that the song ends "Roll up and spend your last dime!"? While the perceived benefits of
children's involvement in extracurricular activities are many and are widely accepted, there are also costs, not only in terms of money but also in terms
of time. Evidence from a study conducted in Melbourne highlights the fact that, for many families such as those on low incomes and those headed by a single parent, both the time and the money costs may be prohibitive. This article highlights parents' perceptions of the benefits·and costs of children's extra-curricular activities, and explores the implications of changing family and household structures for families' capacity to sustain such activities.

Extra relationship involvement among women: are they different from men?

Factors related to three types ofExtra Relationship Involvement (ERI) in women were explored: emotional ERI, sexual ERJ, and II combination ofsexual and emotional ERIs . A model, based on a decision-making model of male ERI and the additional variable of commitment, was evaluated. The research involved two studies with female participants (N = 112, N = 44) who had been involved in heterosexual relationships of at least 6-month duration. The major finding was that women engage in emotional and combined ERIs but rarely enter into solely sexual ERIs. It was demonstrated that social norms, planning, relationship satisfaction, and commitment were influential in predicting emotional and combined ERI intentions. Past ERI behavior was a strong predictor offuture emotional and combined ERI behavior, but planning also added to the prediction of combined ERI behavior. Women who had engaged in emotional ERIs and combined ERIs indicated romantic affect as the main reasonfor their ERI behavior. Overall, it was demonstrated that women's intentions to engage in ERI were related to cognitive processes and relationship variables, and that ERI behavior, although generally habitual, was also predicted by cognitive processes.

Narratives of recovery from traumatic injury: issues in the nursing care of patients in rehabilitation

Patients who sustain multiple orthopaedic injuries through trauma frequently undergo lengthy rehabilitation. There is little information available about how patients experience hospital rehabilitation programs. In particular, not much is known about factors that inhibit or facilitate the rehabilitation process. This paper describes a qualitative study that explored the rehabilitation  experiences of thirteen patients who had serious orthopaedic injuries.  In-depth interviews revealed issues about good and bad care, the importance of mateship, getting through the day and living with pain. In addition, participants spoke of the impact that the accident and resulting injuries had on their relationships, their experience of loss, how difficult it was to manage everyday issues and the ways in which the accident changed them. The findings of the study have been set into a framework of therapeutic emplotment, a novel way to view the role of the rehabilitation nurse.

Starring in the intimate space: picture book narratives and performance semiotics

This article examines the impact of narratological pragmatics as applicable to both theatre and children picture book performances. The premise is interdisciplinary in that it negotiates points of intersection between performance semiotics and theoretical approaches to Children's Literature. Employing a comparative case study of Samuel Beckett's Happy Days and John Burningham's picture book Aldo, the research assesses the narratological outcomes of intersecting semiotic codes in relation to these specific texts.